Commiserations to Philippa Broom, who he beat in the final round of voting by 222 votes to 179.

Tim Montgomerie

Sunday update:

We have uploaded this video of snippets of Kwasi's speech and reaction after his selection and there is a brief account of the meeting by a local journalist here.

Meanwhile, Graeme Reid, Association Chairman, has made the following statement:

“I congratulate Spelthorne Conservatives for enduring the entire three-month long selection process without a single voice of dissent in public. Despite a gruelling campaign including atrocious weather conditions early in January, we achieved a magnificent turnout of over 400, with Party members outnumbered almost two to one. It was a truly open primary. Literally at the very end Kwasi Kwarteng came on and captured the audience’s confidence. With Spelthorne Conservatives united behind him, he is sure to go on and inspire the rest of the electorate.”

Today the call has gone out for applications to the following six constituencies:

Two safe seats where the sitting MP is standing down

Orpington - where John Horam recently announced his retirement. He will bequeath a notional Conservative majority to his successor of 5,221 over the Liberal Democrats.

Spelthorne - where David Wilshire recently announced his retirement. He bequeaths a majority of 9,936 over Labour to his successor.

Two seats where a candidate recently stood down

Caerphilly - where Craig Piper has just stood down as PPC. The seats has been in Labour hands since 1918 and the current MP, Wayne David, will defend a notional majority of 13,517 over Plaid Cyrmru, with the Conservatives in third place on 14.7% of the vote.

Cambridge - where Richard Normington stood down as PPC last month. The sitting Lib Dem MP, David Howarth, has since announced that he will be stepping down as well. He will bequeath a notional majority of 5,834 over Labour to his successor as Lib Dem candidate, with the Conservatives starting in third place with 17.3% of the vote. The seat was Tory-held for all but one year between 1950 and 1992, when it was gained by Labour, who in turn lost it to the Lib Dems in 2005.

And two further seats in Wales

Ceredigion - A seat which has a long history of Liberal/Lib Dem representation, although was briefly held by Labour in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and had a Plaid Cymru MP between 1992 and 2005, when Mark Williams regained it for the Lib Dems. He has a notional majority of 218 over Plaid Cymru, with the Tories in third place on 12.4% of the vote.

Llanelli - A seat which has returned a Labour MP at every election since 1922, sitting MP Nia Griffith has a majority of 7,234 over Plaid Cymru, with the Conservatives in third place with 13.7% of the vote.

Applications for these seats must be submitted by Monday November 30th at Midday.

7.45pm: Wilshire to quit at next election. He has just issued this statement:

"The allegations made in today’s Telegraph are deeply hurtful and unjustified. However, my Constituents rightly want reassurance and the truth. This is why I have referred this to the Commissioner. I am confident that he will confirm that I have done nothing wrong. That said, I am very conscious that the allegations and investigation will cause great distress to my family and friends. These allegations also run the risk of harming my local party and our national party’s chances of winning at the next General Election. In the circumstances I have reluctantly concluded that it is sensible for me not to seek re-election next year."

5.45pm update: No news from the earlier meeting, but there is grim news for Mr Wilshire from the PoliticsHome Phi100 panel: only 5% of the cross-party panel believe he will stand as a Conservative candidate come the general election. More details here.

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1.30pm update: Sky News is reporting that Mr Wilshire has been summoned to a meeting with the party's Chief Whip, Patrick McLoughlin, later this afternoon.

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Spelthorne's Conservative MP David Wilshire faces serious questions today after the Daily Telegraph has reported this morning that he used parliamentary expenses to pay more than £100,000 of taxpayers’ money to his own company.

The paper states:

"Mr Wilshire claimed for more than three years for office assistance provided by “Moorlands Research Services”. Parliamentary expenses rules forbid MPs from entering into arrangements which “may give rise to an accusation” of profiting from public funds. But on Wednesday night, Mr Wilshire – the MP for Spelthorne in Surrey – admitted that he and his partner, Ann Palmer, were sole owners of the business."

Mr Wilshire has now referred himself to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, John Lyon, to conduct a formal inquiry into the matter.

Earlier in the summer, it emerged that a group of voters in the constituency were seeking to oust Mr Wilshire over other expenses claims.

The latest edition of the Staines News reports that a fledgling group of Conservative voters in the Spelthorne constituency are seeking to force the local Conservative MP, David Wilshire, to stand down over his expense claims.

My reading of the article suggests that the individuals involved in the so-called "Conservative Anti-Corruption Group" are not existing party members or activists, so it would not appear to be an attempt to force a deselection vote among party members. Rather, it would seem to be a small movement of rank-and-file voters who have the potential to organise against Mr Wilshire in the run up to the general election, assuming he remains as the Conservative candidate.

He came under fire in the Daily Telegraph for his claiming, among other things, £66.66 on a monthly basis for carpets and curtains for his second home. Further concerns were raised by some locally who felt a second home was in any case unnecessary, since his Surrey constituency is within commuting distance of Westminster.

There was also a suggestion that he was inconsistent in his explanation of what he had claimed for, having previously been quoted as saying: “In 22 years of living in London I have always furnished the flat out of my own pocket.”

He has thus far refused to hold a public meeting to discuss his expenses - as David Cameron has recommended to all Tory MPs - saying he would prefer to meet concerned constituents on a one-to-one basis.